This invention relates to a ring with markings for identifying positions for setting gemstones in the future and to a method for marking the ring for the purpose of setting such gemstones in the marked positions.
Jewelers and jewelry vendors may benefit from repeated visits from customers. Those who purchase or wear jewelry, especially jewelry celebrating an event such as a wedding, may enjoy commemorating each anniversary of the event by adding a gemstone at the end of each year of marriage. Therefore, it may be desirable to provide a ring with markings identifying positions for setting such gemstones in the future so as the gemstones are set into the ring on each anniversary of the event, the gemstones will be properly sized and spaced. As time passes, the purchaser or wearer may return to the jeweler on the anniversary of such event to purchase and have a gemstone set in a predetermined and marked positions of the ring. Repeat visits to set such gemstones may also provide the jeweler with additional opportunities to sell other goods and services during such visits.
Adding gemstones to a ring without such markings would require the jeweler to identify a location for the new gemstone, then drill the ring to accommodate the new gemstone. The jeweler could misjudge, miscalculate or otherwise lack the precision necessary to ensure that the new gemstone(s) would be correctly sized and spaced to accommodate all the gemstones that may be desirably placed in the ring in the future. Further, because these tasks would need to be repeated each time a gemstone was added to a ring, possibly over the course of many years, there is an increased likelihood that mistakes in sizing or spacing of the gemstones would result in an unattractive ring or there will be insufficient space to include all desired gemstones. Further still, because new gemstones may be added by different jewelers, quality and aesthetic sensibilities may vary from one jeweler to the next, with each jeweler doing things differently from the last. This would risk asymmetry in size, spacing, and location of new gemstones that could negatively affect the beauty of the ring. Therefore, to ensure the gemstones are sized and placed properly, it may be desirable to create a pattern for the gemstones, then mark the ring accordingly. Markings could take into account milestones, such as the wedding itself, and five, ten, twenty-five, and fifty year anniversaries, and provide for different gemstones, for example, different types, colors, sizes, and varieties, for such milestones.
In a ring where gemstones are added over time, there may be marked positions that are not yet occupied by gemstones such that if the markings are on the outside of the shank, the ring may appear unfinished or incomplete. In light of this, or because the wearer may wish to maintain privacy, it may be desirable to place the markings and the gemstones on an inner surface of the shank of the ring that will not be visible to others when the ring is worn.
Placing markings on an inner surface of the ring may pose special challenges to a jeweler. For example, inner surface placement of a preferred number of gemstones may be affected by the size and number of the gemstones, by the width and size (inner circumference) of the ring, and by a stamping area where no gemstones are present. Conversely, outer surface placement of a preferred number of gemstones may be more easily accomplished at least because no stamping area is present on the outer surface and because ring size (inner circumference) may be reduced as a limiting factor because material may be added to the ring to increase ring height and outer circumference to provide more area to accommodate gemstones.
Given the above-described challenges, it is desirable to have a ring and method for marking a ring that provides a technique for making the desired marks on an inner surface of a ring in a reliable, repeatable manner and for automating the process for production purposes across various ring sizes and types.